n. Horus is one of the most ancient deities of the Ancient Egyptian religion, who appears in his earliest form in late Predynastic Egypt. Represented as a falcon, his name is believed to mean 'the high' or 'the far off' and his earliest connections are to the sky and kingship, derived from being the son of Hathor or Nut, as a sun god. Because the cult of Horus survived for the whole of the Ancient Egyptian civilization that extended for thousands of years, he gained many forms and associations.

Horus was usually represented as a man with a falcon's head. One important association is the Eye of Horus which was an Egyptian symbol of power (first identified with Wadjet and seen on images of his mother, Hathor, as she was emerging from the reeds) and of the offerings made to the god Osiris and by extension, to all of the dead. In one myth cycle Horus' left eye is injured during his struggle with his uncle Set, who had murdered Osiris in an attempt to seize the Egyptian throne. The Eye of Horus, its injury, and subsequent restoration became an important symbol for the unified land of Egypt and in the funerary rites of the renewal after death.

When the Genie calls to Osiris in "Aladdin and the King Of Thieves," what screeches back is not Osiris, but Horus.

The falcon-headed god whose earthly, visible form was the reining pharaoh in Ancient Egypt.

Horus was among the most important gods of Egypt, particularly because the Pharaoh was supposed to be his earthly embodiment. Kings would eventually take the name of Horus as one of their own. At the same time, the Pharaohs were the followers of Re and so Horus became associated with the sun as well. To the people this solar deity became identified as the son of Osiris. Attempts to resolve the conflicts between these different gods in different parts of Egypt resulted in at least fifteen distinct forms of Horus. They can be divided fairly easily into two groups, solar and Osirian, based on the parentage of the particular form of Horus. If he is said to be the son of Isis, he is Osirian; otherwise he is a solar deity. The solar Horus was called the son of Atum, or Re, or Geb and Nut variously.